Victory Road (video game)

Victory Road
English arcade poster
Developer(s)	SNK (Arcade) Paradise Software (Spectrum) Micronics (NES)[4]
Publisher(s)	Arcade SNK ZX Spectrum Imagine Software, Erbe Software S.A., IBSA
Composer(s)	Toshikazu Tanaka
Series	Ikari Warriors
Platform(s)	Arcade, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Apple II, NES, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, IBM PC
Release	Arcade October 1986[1] ZX Spectrum 1989 Atari ST 1988 Amiga 1989 NES JP: 16 April 1988[3] NA: April 1988[2]
Genre(s)	Run and gun
Mode(s)	Up to two players simultaneously

Victory Road, also known as Dogō Sōken (怒号層圏, lit. "Bellowing Atmosphere") in Japan and Ikari Warriors II: Victory Road in North America,^[4] is a run and gun video game released by SNK for arcades in 1986. The game is a sequel to Ikari Warriors, released earlier the same year.

The original arcade game featured an 8-way rotary joystick that could be twisted in place to rotate the onscreen character allowing the player to face in one of eight directions while moving in another.

It features sampled voiceovers from the main characters and the game's bosses.

The NES version includes the added feature of collecting "zeny" as currency, which is used to buy improved weaponry and armor. The NES version emulates the controls of the arcade version by locking the facing of the character in one direction for as long as the "fire" button is depressed. Weapons no longer have limited ammunition. The player character begins with a flamethrower but, when the player loses a life, it is changed to a machine gun.

Weapon powerups are scattered throughout the levels, often hidden under rocks destroyable by the bazooka weapon or grenades.

There are no vehicles in this game, but it was replaced by armour, which allows player to take a limited number of hits without time expiration.

The game reuses the single-stage design from its predecessor, but added mini-stages where players fight a boss when entered through the green door.

The objective is to defeat the enemy aliens using grenades and other weapons. The story directly picks up at the ending of Ikari Warriors. Congratulated by General Kawasaki for rescuing him, Paul and Vince return home to their native country in a plane arranged by the general. A mysterious storm appears and they are hurtled thousands of years into the future. They are met by an alien creature who says that the villain Zang Zip has taken over the land.

In Japan, Game Machine listed Victory Road on their December 1, 1986 issue as being the third most-successful table arcade unit of the month.^[5]

The Spanish magazine Microhobby reviewed the ZX Spectrum version of the game with the following scores: Originality: 20%; Graphics: 70%; Motion: 70%; Sound: 70%; Difficulty: 90%; Addiction: 80%.^[6]

Victory Road was followed up with the sequel Ikari III: The Rescue, released in 1989.

• Arcade history page
• Ikari II Dogosoken walkthrough
• Victory Road at SpectrumComputing.co.uk